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September 22, 2016

Minimum Wage and the Presidential Campaign

Raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $12 would lift pay for 35 million workers (and their children), or 1 in 4 employees nationwide.
Income for the median household has fallen 2.4% since 1999, despite a big gain in 2015.
The U.S. still had fewer middle-income jobs than it did before the recession.
It's not just teenagers earning the minimum wage. "Contrary to popular myth, low-wage jobs aren't dominated by teenagers
earning extra spending money. About half of fast-food workers are 25 or
over. And one-quarter have children."
Hillary Clinton supports increasing the minimum wage while Donald Trump
opposes any increase saying U.S. wages are already too high.
Read: Why it matters: The Minimum Wage https://www.thestreet.com/story/13746801/1/why-it-matters-minimum-wage.html
When I was a teenager earning the minimum wage it was worth close to $10/hour. Check out the purchasing power of the minimum wage over time. Today it is only $7.25 and life is much more expensive. There were no computers, cell phones, and related services to buy back then. Housing prices are much higher today relative to the minimum wage.